Owner-operator sues Pilot over rebate withholding

A New Hampshire owner-operator filed a lawsuit earlier this week against truck stop giant Pilot Flying J, saying he “suffered economic damages as a direct and proximate result of” Pilot’s alleged rebate withholding scheme. He joins just a handful of other owner-operators who’ve sued the company, as the allegations against it accuse Pilot of withholding rebates from fleets, not owner-operators.

In an address to fleets May 16 in Indianapolis at the Scopelitis Transportation Seminar, Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam said the company does not work directly with owner-operators on fuel contracts, and that fleets were responsible for doling out rebates to owner-operators once they received them from Pilot.

The latest class-action suit is being brought by Fred Woodward, a New Hampshire resident. He alleges that he did not receive proper rebates because of “Pilot’s system-wide and uniformly implemented scheme to defraud.”

Roughly a dozen fleets have sued the truck stop giant since April, and several owner-operators have joined. Woodward’s lawsuit, like the others that have been filed, uses the aforementioned federal affidavit as evidence of its claims.